I noticed "Gray" in my Netflix queue and swiped onward. Apparently, my "meh" reflex was correct that day. However--"Ripley" was indeed brilliant, as well as gray, and very close to Patricia Highsmith's literary sensibility. One of the best new features Netflix has brought on recently, certainly since they dumped the brilliant, and also gray, "Babylon Berlin" before bringing us Season 4 [which can now be seen here in the US on MHZ-Choice.]
"Tinker, Tailor," "Ripley," and "Babylon Berlin" all benefit from having had their roots in works with literary sensibilities, a guiding intelligence with the subtleties of characterization and storytelling already honed and evident to those adapting them for the screen. Good writing does that in film, too, but less so in a factory production system. In "Gray" the factory turned out something slick - but slippery with little grip on the ideas that might have powered it.
Oh yes, I recall your insightful contemplation of Babylon Berlin, Season 3. I look forward to Season 4 [finally], via the MHZ Choice streaming service. And apparently a fifth and final season is in the works, as you say. It really does seem that most structurally coherent and subtle TV/cinema does benefit from literary origins. I suppose The Sopranos and A French Village are exceptions to that premise, though clearly those were crafted as original, long form TV by highly literate show runners overseeing exceptional writing teams.
I noticed "Gray" in my Netflix queue and swiped onward. Apparently, my "meh" reflex was correct that day. However--"Ripley" was indeed brilliant, as well as gray, and very close to Patricia Highsmith's literary sensibility. One of the best new features Netflix has brought on recently, certainly since they dumped the brilliant, and also gray, "Babylon Berlin" before bringing us Season 4 [which can now be seen here in the US on MHZ-Choice.]
Bob, thanks again for the comment. I too liked "Babylon Berlin" and reviewed Season 3 (https://donnordbergwriting.substack.com/p/babylon-berlin-sky-deutschland) before I set up this Substack. I haven't watched Season 4 yet. There is a Season 5 in the works, I'm told.
"Tinker, Tailor," "Ripley," and "Babylon Berlin" all benefit from having had their roots in works with literary sensibilities, a guiding intelligence with the subtleties of characterization and storytelling already honed and evident to those adapting them for the screen. Good writing does that in film, too, but less so in a factory production system. In "Gray" the factory turned out something slick - but slippery with little grip on the ideas that might have powered it.
Oh yes, I recall your insightful contemplation of Babylon Berlin, Season 3. I look forward to Season 4 [finally], via the MHZ Choice streaming service. And apparently a fifth and final season is in the works, as you say. It really does seem that most structurally coherent and subtle TV/cinema does benefit from literary origins. I suppose The Sopranos and A French Village are exceptions to that premise, though clearly those were crafted as original, long form TV by highly literate show runners overseeing exceptional writing teams.